Last Week and a Reader Share

I’ll start first with the Reader Share. I was blessed with a message in my email from a kind soul. A dear reader friend sent me two gorgeous photos of infinity wrap combos I just have to share!

The first she named Austrian Romance due to the golden scarf being a traditional Austrian scarf. This is paired with a floral infinity scarf. The second is a golden infinity scarf where she took the end and made a floral “poof” by using a pin! These are just fantastic! I really hope these inspire you to get your hands on some infinity scarves for your collection and play around with them just as she did here! Also, if anyone else wants to share, please feel free to do so: penimah@hotmail.com.

This past week has had some highlights! I decided to wrap outside of my comfort zone and I got my first sari scarves from Say Your Sari run by Nomi Dayan whom I met on Facebook. These are the best priced sari scarves out there: $12 a piece and if you buy 3, shipping is free! She has other cheaper scarves in case you are on a budget to get the free shipping. I bought 3 and recently got another that I just couldn’t resist. So I wore all three this week and I’m sure I’ll be wearing the 4th as soon as I get it!

You can see I tried to make a flower with the ends of the scarf. This was my favorite; the color is just phenomenal. And it goes so well with pearls and lace! The only thing to note about sari scarves that disappoint me, is that they are very thin in width and generally don’t cover the whole wrap without creative positioning.

My second sari scarf is this deep rich navy blue. Just gorgeous. I decided to play around and make it look like I only had my hair half covered. I had watched a tutorial from another wrapper on the Wrapunzel Facebook group on how she makes volume and covers only half, leaving her hair hanging. This must have influenced my thinking when I first put the brown scarf on without a volumizer and subsequently braiding the ends. I like how this turned out. I felt like I was wearing a crown and I am pretty sure I held my shoulders just a bit higher that day. =]

I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to take the effort to wrap as well as get a day of hat wearing in for my husband who prefers it when I wear them. I didn’t want to just wear a hat, so I embellished it! I used one of my new lace headbands and some black ribbon. That was it and it was very comfortable.

Here I experimented and I am not exactly thrilled with what I came up with. While I love the colors, I don’t think this worked for me. I don’t like how it made a sort of figure 8 shape with my face and after posting it on three groups, a few women gave some tips. One mentioned it was the color scheme and another said I needed more volume. I don’t totally agree with them but then the more I look at the wraps that contain mostly darker, richer colors, the more I think that that’s the color scheme for me. Anyway, I liked the knot – I was thinking of the 1930’s/40’s look, y’know that classic feminist WWII poster?

Clearly not the same but it was still inspiration!

I went very low key with this sari scarf since, by itself, it creates enough interest! This scarf ended up being much more orange-ish than I expected from the photos online. But I still like it and since I love a nice mustard/gold yellow, I focused on that color. There was a nice strip that had gray in it too, along the top, which was what I used to pick out my outfit. Ha! Does anybody else do this, figure out your outfit based on the tichel you want to wear?

Here’s another of me wrapping outside of my comfort zone. This is a one scarf wrap, volume and all! It is a thick pashmina which adds just the right amount of volume per my tastes and then the short end, I laid across my head to leave a “v” hanging in the back. I added a nice pearl braid headband and a flower clip I just made, soon to be for sale. I personally avoid heavy weight pashmina styled scarves because they add too much volume for me. So, I am hoping to play around some more to come up with other ways to wrap with just one. I am thinking a tutorial video would be an end result.

Here I leave you with what I’m wearing today. See, don’t the darker tones just work better for me?

More Fun with Lace – Plus a mini review

Today is day 4 of using my new lace headbands. I just love them. Super easy to use. The only thing I would change due to my own personal preferences is the width because I have a small head and I really only show lace up front. However, the price and the ease of use far outweigh any issue. I never have extra wrinkles or bulk. So without further ado, here’s the last three days of me wearing each of the other colors I bought:

This was Friday. Dark teal, gray lace, black & white floral, and light teal with silver threading and random sequins. I added a dark blue beaded necklace along the black floral section and topped it off with a silver flower. I started with a tail down, but ended up tucking it in per my husband’s request.

This was Shabbat’s wrap. I was very pleased with it. I took a chance and mixed the pumpkin lace, which ended up be more like a dark coral, with the more subdued colored floral scarf. The floral scarf has notes of maroon and dusty rose but orange/coral/pumpkin? Not really. However, I love how it turned out! I also have a greenish/tan lace scarf I used as well finalizing it with pearls and a floral pin I made.

Sunday’s tichel was nice but I had issues. First the description: a base tichel for the volume, but then added my new olive pashmina style scarf with my tan lace headband and my new pre-tied navy and white polka dotted scarf. I tried to have the fringes be embellishment again, as I had done with the infinity scarf ensemble from two weeks ago. I liked this, however, my no slip headband didn’t keep my tichel from not slipping.

I’m brainstorming as to why and how to fix this issue, as this isn’t the only instance lately. My first inclination is that my hair is different postpartum. Also, I’m using different shampoo/conditioner due to the not-so-great water in our apartment. Another thought – I don’t wash my no slip headband often because I only have 1! So, first things first: wash my headband and try again.

Now, on to my mini-review. I have two times now tried out a new “invention” that I picked up on Facebook. I am not sure it has a name…but it looks like this:

But what is it, you are wondering? It is a necklace extender that allows you to extend the length of your necklace to use as embellishment with your tichel! If you go back to Friday and Shabbat in this post, I am using it to hold on my necklaces! This made using necklaces a breeze and I didn’t have to worry about my bobby pins falling out or the necklace falling off. This particular extender is nice in that there are no jump rings to catch on your scarves. This is handmade by Lisa Corley Anthony who, at the moment, has only listed them for sale on Facebook in the buy/sell/trade group. But if you want one – in either gold/brown or silver/black – you can get in touch with her via email, tichelmepink1@gmail.com. One piece is $9, shipping included within the US.

Coming soon, my new addition – sari scarves! And photos from a reader!

Enjoy!

Lace? Yes, please!

I am sure I am going to be talking a lot about Facebook and the groups I am in. I have been enjoying the camaraderie from other women on a daily basis, so I encourage you to join if you are in need of bolstering your wraps. This leads me to my wrap today!

Last night, I got a package (yay!) of new product to try. In the b/s/t (buy/sell/trade) group Tichels, Scarfs and Sheitels Oh My!, a lady (of whom I am working on getting the contact details ***edit see below) was selling all sorts of colors of stretchy lace headbands for $3 a piece. She also added the incentive that if you buy 4, you get one free and shipping was included! Wow, 4 lace headbands for $9?! How can I refuse?!! How can I pick what colors, eh? She is working with a small family business that created these lovely headbands and mentioned that she will work on getting more! More! MORE! LOL, ok I’ve been fairly excitable lately, but I can’t help it. Who doesn’t like to get pretty things to add to their wardrobe? And lace is a staple for my wraps.

Today, I chose to wear the yellow lace and then paired it with darker, more subtle colors. I am really liking this one and I wasn’t sure initially if the colors were going to work; however, it seems that the pop of yellow works really well with the burgundy, plum and floral fabrics. And fabrics they are, since the burgundy and floral pieces are really fat quarters that were precut for quilting and the plum was leftover fabric from a dress I made for a bridesmaid dress. The only real scarf I wore was my “base” that you can’t even see!

So far, I think this lace headband is great! It is fairly wide for my head, I should have taken a photo before totally wrapping so you could see how it lays by itself. I will try to do that with the other colors I got, which are dark grey, pumpkin and tan. I am thinking that I want a maroon, a white, a black, a navy blue, a….

Ok, ladies! I have more reviews to come soon. I also got a new “invention” that makes wearing necklaces super easy, handmade by another Facebook head-wrapping lady.

Another exciting bit of news, I am putting together a public listing of women whom I’ve met on Facebook who are very skilled at headwrapping. My dream is a club/association/whatever you want to call it of women who are able to meet in person as a tichel tutor! Sometimes, it is hard to figure out where you are going wrong from a video so a helping hand can be just what you require. Or if you just want the camaraderie of other tichel-tying ladies. Or if you are brand-spankin’ new and need the warmth and support of someone in person. So, if this sounds exactly like something you would be interested in – either teaching or being taught – please leave a comment with the area in which you are located and if you could be a tutor, please leave me the information I can publicly post in the contact form below. I apologize, but this is for the USA only at the moment. G-d willing, one day internationally!

Enjoy!

***Heather from Heather’s Hearth gave me this link to her Etsy shop. She’s updating the shop with what she had on hand now which will include the lace headbands but also other embellishments. Please message her with any questions. She does take checks if credit cards/Paypal isn’t your thing. I wanted to let you know that her stock is back on its way; however, this sale won’t last long, so hurry and order yours!

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To Infinity and Beyond!

I couldn’t resist the urge to use the classic Toy Story phrase so oft quoted from Buzz Lightyear. I felt this works well for my post today as I am super excited to share with you my renewed discovery of infinity scarves and their use for headcovering!

Tasseled Double Braid

I recently joined yet another Facebook group called We Cover where I was greatly influenced by another member, Anita Franklin-Snyder, who uses infinity scarves on a regular basis. And boy does she have some fun variations! I was so inspired, I grabbed one of my 2 infinity scarves and got to work the very next day. I am so pleased to show you this from yesterday!

This wrap was so easy, comfortable and beautiful, I had to show you guys how to do it. So, without further ado, here’s the tutorial.

On a side note, I am cleaning out my embellishments I have made for my etsy shop and going to make room for new items! I have them for sale on the Facebook group pages of We Cover and Tichels, Scarfs and Sheitels…Oh My! and will soon start to update my Facebook page, Penimah, with those items!

Enjoy!

Reminiscent of my former blogging days

Here’s today’s tichel: a splash of summer colors to complement the sunny day! I’m wearing a base tichel covered by my multi-colored scarf with one tail wrapped around the bun. I have a short rectangular brown scarf lain over that with 3/4ths covered, brown tails hidden. I then wrapped the long multi-colored tail around, added a green ribbon headband and topped it off with a silk flower.

Enjoy!

Venturing into the new

Hello all,

I wanted to share with you some fun groups that I’ve become a part of on Facebook. I recently joined the group: Cover Me Happy and Tichels, Scarfs and Sheitels Oh My! Buy/Sell/Trade. These groups are fantastic for a number of reasons. The first is that you get some good ol’ camaraderie from around the globe, especially in Cover Me Happy where it is all about the chatter and pictures and tutorials! I learned a new wrap and will post the outcome. In Tichels, Scarfs and Sheitels Oh My! you can sell your items or buy gently used items from others out there for very good prices! Plus, on Wednesdays, the vendors are allowed to post their hearts out. I recently bought from two women and am sporting one purchase today, as you will see below. So, if you are on Facebook, I highly recommend joining these groups. You never know who you’ll meet or what head covering piece will be your next purchase!

 Here, I learned the Yerushalmi wrap from co-grouper (is that a word yet? LOL) Meira Schneider-Atik who makes tutorials on youtube. This was my first attempt and I was rather pleased. You can watch her video here.

Here is what I am wearing now. As you can see, it is falling off my head after wearing it for more than 12 hours. I feel it stayed on well. I used a mustard circle scarf and made that my base. The problem with using it as the base is lack of tension. I couldn’t get it tight enough to stay well but it never really slid off horribly. On top of that is my new purchase. It is a navy blue with small white polka dots pre-tied. I have never really owned a pre-tied tichel before. I mean, I had one once but it was more of an embellishment, as it was mesh-like/see-through. This is a pre-tied I can wear simply on its own. Anyway, I topped it off with my favorite lace. I should mention that I took the tails of the pre-tied and wrapped it around the bun.

 

Enjoy!

By the light of the (electric) Chanukiah tonight

Earlier this week, teal green scarf mixed with the navy blue sinar tichel of Sarah Attali Designs with white and navy button headband I made:

 

Tonight, simple one scarf bun. Multicolored wraps make for an easy faux multi-scarfed look.

 

Would anyone like a DIY embellishment post? Such as the button headband I am wearing here?

 

Chag Sameah to all who light and flip their latkes in the air sometimes. LOL, Maccabeats.

Once upon a time, there was a blog named “The Daily Tichel”

I have been wanting to start blogging again (I promise I have) but have felt overwhelmed. Where do I begin? How can I maintain a daily blog when I don’t daily wrap a tichel? What I do have is an archive of tichels I never blogged about. I also want to begin to add hats and how you can modify the look if you want to add a little flair. I am also not going to blog daily yet, so I am going to change the title to “The Not-So-Daily Tichel.” LOL, not very creative, I know, but it works for now. I also want to make this more open to comments so I will be asking questions and I hope you will feel free to respond! Especially if you have a nice bit of advice we could all use. =] Here we go!

This is simply 1 scarf and 1 embellishment. I used a pashmina styled scarf and then added a nice blue beaded necklace as a sort of tiara. As you can see from the “bun,” it came out kinda wonky but pashmina styled scarves are hard to work with being very thick. Anyone have any tips on how to make pashminas flatter? I know that Wrapunzel has great tips but what about you?

Enjoy!

It’s been how long?!

OY. I feel so horrible that I kept you all waiting! I ask that each and every one of you will forgive me for the “forever” absence. I can’t say that I had anything major happen but I will say that pregnancy was hard for me. Here’s what happened:

As you are aware, I announced my pregnancy last Fall. From there I was absent until March or April (I can’t remember!) when I felt better. I thought I was going to be posting again, however, my 2nd trimester energy boost did not last long. I think I only enjoyed a month of on & off energy which then turned back to exhaustion – an exhaustion that was worse than my 1st trimester! I felt guilty not posting for so long but I struggled to get out of bed in the morning. I could sleep for 8-10 hours and feel like I only slept 4. So I would sleep in later and later before having to get up and go to work. Also during my pregnancy, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in February which seemed to work itself out. I had the flu or laryngitis maybe 3 times and I struggled with sciatica for which I went to the chiropractor and physical therapy regularly. Due to how I felt, I wore hats. So, how could I post, when there was no creativity involved?

BH, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl July 21st (11 days late!). The postpartum period was hard for me due to healing and the general adjustment to being a new mom. Now my baby is 3 months already and I am back at work, part-time, and part-time babysitting my nephew and niece. So today as they are ALL sleeping (BH!!!!) I am writing this quick update.

While I am back at work now, I am still adjusting. And I ask that you continue to have patience. I can’t guarantee a daily post, as I often still wear hats, especially when babysitting (they come over so early! LOL). I may also decide to write about other things in another blog regarding women’s issues, childrearing, herbal healing, etc. as I learn and grow my knowledge to hopefully create Shalom Bayit.

I also have not replied to many of your comments. I am certainly behind and will endeavor to leave a reply to them all.

THANK YOU!!! 😀

Blushing From Embarrassment

OH ladies, I never EVER intended to be away this long! I am actually nearly too embarrassed to start again! Well, I have been very encouraged by your comments and I AM feeling much better – I should be being 6 months along! Haha. I am going to try to get myself back into the swing of things. I do have some pictures from my absence that you all might like. =] But first, an update on my life.

As of today, I am 28 weeks along. While I am blessed by a smooth pregnancy, I have had my share of complications or rather, speed bumps, along the way. After my initial blood work when I decided on my midwife (CNM/Certified Nurse Midwife), we found I was ever so slightly hypothyroid. Left untreated, my baby would probably not develop properly and it caused me to continue to feel sluggish/fatigued into my 2nd trimester. Also, I was VERY deficient in Vitamin D! Vitamin D does go hand-in-hand with thyroid functions & immune system. So after I started taking thyroid medication & have been on Vitamin D, I have gotten my spark back. Next came another speed bump. I sit for 8 hours a day for work. My tailbone area began to really start to ache. Also, sometimes a feeling of not being able to stretch out my hips kept me up at night. Well, come to find out, I was experiencing sciatic nerve pain. I now sit on a large exercise ball which helps a lot. Since I am getting bigger, I am experiencing more round ligament pain on my left side. My midwife was able to refer me to a chiropractor who specializes in pregnant women as well as a physical therapist. The nerve pain and the ligament pain are due to the fact that when pregnant, your pelvis goes a bit out of whack. For some women, it is a bit more painful, and I am guessing since this is my first that that is why. All I can say is, I am SOOO glad I chose to listen to my midwife. Both chiropractor and physical therapy are really helping to ease the pain and even take it away at times. I feel like I am finally getting to a point where I wont be running into any more bumps – except my own belly, that is!

I know this is a tichel blog, but any advice left in comments regarding pregnancy is totally fine with me! Obviously, it is always on my mind. Also, any advice regarding how not to take the “easy” way out upon arising in the morning is welcome. I have been sporting the hats like crazy because it is so simple. I will have pictures of that, as I have tried to embellish the hats, too, when I have been more active.

Thank you, ladies, for your support & patience as I am adjusting to such a life altering change!

Chag Sameach! May you enjoy a kosher & happy Passover!